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Monthly Archives: May 2012

The hardest part is starting. I take forever. I take a piece of paper and then I have to stand up make tea grab a cookie, do something before I pick up the pencil. Once I picked up the pencil I still get up again and pace. It’s as if I’m afraid of the white paper in front of me. Once I get going thought, I don’t stop. I use a 3H pencil and I don’t use an eraser till I have a sketch. I just draw a continuous line over and over till I find the shape. I don’t even lift the pencil off the page that much. Once I found the shape I want, I take a darker pencil, or a colored one, and strengthen the lines I need. Sometimes I erase the extra lines, often I just leave them there.

I experimented with Jana’s portrait. I wanted to try different colors (hence the greens and reds) and I also picked a picture of hers where her head is slightly up – for a challenge, you see. Sometimes I surprise myself. It looked nothing like her at the start, but somehow I think it looks like her a bit. It’s tough, the picture I used for reference it’s not her best. I also notice now that one of her eyes is not as open as the other one, but then I looked back at the original and that’s the case in the photograph as well. Had I noticed that at the start, I would have probably opened both eyes the same. I did that change in Annette’s portrait yesterday. Her eyes were half closed.

Jana’s one of my best friends. We were both on the same softball team a few years ago, but we got quite close when we both had our sons 7 weeks apart. In fact I’m hanging out with her tomorrow. She gives the biggest hugs. I love her lots and I know this portrait is not flattering, but that’s not cause I making fun, it’s because I lack the skill to do it better. I mean no offense. I’m just practicing.

Today was a tough day. My son’s teething and we woke up really early. I did sleep with him this afternoon, hence no drawing for me during the day today, but he took forever to go to bed at night too. It’s not the lack of sleep, I’m worn out from listening to him whine all day. I still made the portrait, so I’m glad. I wonder how tomorrow will be since I’ll be out during the day.

I tried to go for a more “artistic” color scheme in Annette’s portrait. Because she has such bright red hair, I used blues in her face, but then it didn’t really work well for the light areas and I ended up using some yellows. Yellows didn’t really work in Daniel’s baby face, so I think in the end I used every color I had trying to get something that doesn’t look completely wrong.

Annette is a really bubbly, happy, excited kind of girl, which is really not apparent at all in this portrait. We had our babies 3 months apart, so we will force our sons to be friends. They don’t really have a choice in the matter is what we tell them.

Meghan surprised me with a knitted blanket for my son when he was born. It was one of the best presents I got. And then I didn’t invite her to my son’s 1st birthday. I thought about it and I thought I had good reasons for not inviting her. She doesn’t have children, so I thought she’d be bored. I know I was when I went to such a party before I had my son. I have a very small place. I really thought she wouldn’t want to come and then she’d come out of obligation. I feel terrible, but what’s done it’s done.

Meghan and I have some things in common. She likes tea and cookies, knitting and crafting. She can sing, she can dance. She’s awesome. I can’t sing or dance. I only sing to my son and poorly too. She’s like me in the way that she has a soft spot for English culture and men in her case (she married one). She sews the most amazing costumes and she’s the only mermaid I know.

Luiza was and still is my first good friend in Canada. She’s someone I can talk to about anything, someone I can be myself with. We have a similar sense of humor and we can talk for hours. We’ve had our misunderstandings, but whenever we make up, it’s like we never broke up. There’s no awkwardness and I like that.

Here’s Luiza. It does look like her and it doesn’t. I’m still not sure what I’ve done wrong.

I didn’t know how good I had it before I had my son. To think that I’ve ever complained about being tired or not having enough time! Nowadays I’m happy if I get to sleep till 7:00am. Last night we woke up at 3:30am and we were up till 6:30am when finally my son’s battery ran out and he was ready to go back to bed. I spent those three hours on the couch with one eye closed and one eye on my boy. I try sleeping when he sleeps, but somehow that’s not always easy. My sleep cycle doesn’t seem to match his. No matter how tired I am, I’ve never been happier.

Here’s Breanne, my beautiful friend who also dresses really well. She’s the only other girl besides myself who stuck with the book club from the first meeting and because of her I’ve read some great books.

Two years ago, in 2010, Genevieve died. We weren’t close, but she was a friend. Last time I saw her, I remember the two of us enjoying the grapes and the cheese she had brought to the book club. We were the only vegetarians in that group. This was in the fall of 2008. After that, she found out she had cancer and I never saw her again. I heard news of her from the girls who were still working with her and were still in the book club. I heard she beat it, then I heard it came back. I optimistically thought she was going to beat it again, so I was quite shocked when I got an email saying that she was in palliative care. She was 31 — my age. She was beautiful girl with a great sense of style who always looked great, had a lovely smile and was one of the nicest people I’ve ever known. She was soft spoken, loved flowers and had built a beautiful garden.

As a tribute to her, because she always looked fantastic, during the month following her death, I went to work dressed up like a lady (no pants allowed). I’m a programmer, who wears jeans and t-shirts and no make-up. This was tough. I had to go shopping and buy some skirts, pantyhose (which I had none of) and high-heeled shoes. I spent about an hour each morning doing my make-up and hair. I watched youtube videos on how to do my hair and make-up. Picked my outfits each night. It was quite an experience. It changed me. I held my head higher, I walked, talked and behaved differently. People held the door for me, noticed me, treated me better.

Today I start my “draw or paint a portrait a day” for the next 30 days. Here’s Genevieve.